Day 4 - Down Under

Chris had a meeting at 9:30 am.  I could have slept in, unfortunately, I woke at 4:40 am.  I moved to the living room and surfed the net while Chris slept.  I went down to exercise after 7 am and Chris followed about 20 minutes later after going through his early morning mail.  I took my iPhone and tried to turn on my Runkeeper App.  It had been running in the background for I don't know how long, and I was up to 8000 miles.  Go me!

Chris left early for breakfast while I was still getting ready for the day.  I followed later, dropping off laundry with the Concierge. It was lucky that Chris was just passing by on his way out of the hotel to work when I dropped the laundry because he had all of the information with the company name.  That was taken care of, Chris left for work, and I went back up to dine alone in the Executive Lounge.  Alone, except I facetimed my girls during my breakfast.  It was Sunday afternoon for them.

The view from our hotel room.  There were lots of teams crewing on this river every day.

It was the first of many days where I would explore on my own while Chris worked.  I ventured out along the pier and walked toward Federation Square.

I checked out the St. Paul's cathedral, graffitied alleys, Jone's house, and then made my way to the the City tram.

It took over an hour to take the tour around the Central Business District (CBD).  I found a great map on the tram and hopped off next to Fitzroy Gardens.  It was beautiful, green, and full of trees.

I walked through the Conservatory full of mostly begonias.

I continued to search the park (the signage wasn't stellar) until I finally found the small Tudor village replica next to the Fairies Tree.

It was an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon.  I was just proud of myself for not getting lost!  I made my way back to the tram stop and hopped the tram back toward the hotel.

I was relaxing on the couch when Chris arrived about an hour later.  We found a place to top off our Myki cards (transit cards).  We were directed from one place to another, but finally found a spot to reload the cards.  We met up with Chris' coworker, Nik, and his wife, Hadis for dinner at Dr. Roast Bar & Eatery.  Nik was from India and Hadis from Iran.  They were a delightful couple.

They dropped us back at the hotel after dinner and Chris and I were quickly off to sleep.  It didn't last too long for me.  Kristen had an urgent need to talk to her mom and started texting me around 2:30 am.  I tried to help her through the problem, though I was only partially awake.  Thank heavens for Unisom.  I was able to stay awake for about a half an hour and then drifted off to sleep after saying goodbye to Kristen.

Day 3 - Down Under

We were able to make up a lot of time in our flight over--almost two hours--only arriving a little later than schedule.  Happy Sunday morning.  I was just a tad bit hungry and happy to eat even the omelet that was served (I don't usually care for egg yolks).  The egg flavor was masked with salsa fortunately.

Finally I was off the plane.  Ohh stretching felt good, but not for long as I knew Chris was waiting and I still had to go through Immigration, Customs, and Baggage claim.  I had an Express Pass for Immigration, which came in handy once I figured out which line I was able to stand in.  There were a lot of people arriving and Immigration was packed.  The Express Line was much shorter, but we only had one Immigration Agent for processing.  I was glad not to be in the other line though as it was at least ten times longer.

After passing through Immigration, I found my way to Baggage Claim and claimed my bags that must have been circling for some time now.  The Express Pass came in handy once again as I found my line for Customs.  The guy "expressed" me through by simply asking if I had any meat products.  No.  "Enjoy Australia!"

I texted Chris who had been waiting with a taxi driver a short distance outside the airport.  It was a guaranteed fare for the taxi driver to hang out with Chris for the return trip from the airport than to drop Chris off and then wait his place in the taxi line.  I didn't realize that though and was worried that everything was taking so long and that the taxi meter was running up and up.  The taxi driver suggested that I make my way across a couple of lanes of airport traffic to the pink Ring and Ride awning to wait.

It was so wonderful to see Chris' face and to hug him.

He had left a week ago for Asia, arriving in Melbourne the night before.  The driver quickly maneuvered through the airport and about a half an hour later dropped us off at the Hilton Melbourne South Wharf hotel.  

I took a quick shower before one of Chris' coworkers picked us up to show us around Melbourne and the surrounding area.

Franco Mancini was waiting for us in the lobby after my quick shower and refresh.  I was a little bit tired but knew that I just needed to stay awake to acclimate to the new time schedule.  Franco retrieved his Toyota SUV and off we went up the coast.  Our first stop was in Rosebud along the Mornington Peninsula.  We found a little shop in a food court where I ordered a delicious falafel sandwich and Chris ordered a smoothie.  We drove a little further to a pier to eat by the water.  It was windy and rather chilly and my hair kept flying in my mouth as I ate. Chris took one bite of my sandwich and liked it as much as I did.  I shared half with him.

We walked out on the pier and watched two gentlemen fishing.  They were pointing at something in the water and I peeked over the wall to see a huge sting ray in the water.  

We continued our drive up the coast toward Cape Schank and its lighthouse.

It was sooooo windy.  We purchased a lighthouse tour and waited for the previous tour to finish.  The guide for the lighthouse tour opened the door and tried to keep it from slamming against the wall with the wind gusts.  While he gave the tour spiel, it started to pour.  Buckets.  And magically the rain stopped when we were ready to walk out on the upper deck of the lighthouse.  Did I say it was windy?  Chris and Franco laughed and laughed at these pictures.

Franco was kind enough to spend the whole afternoon with us, giving up his Sunday with his family, but we surely enjoyed having him as a tour guide.

We stopped at The Point Cafe in Blairgowrie for dinner.  There was a dinner party finishing up, or so they said.  As we walked in, they mentioned to us that they were just leaving.  They stayed and chatted, loudly, enjoying themselves.  I think we left before they did. Chris enjoyed a little hot chocolate treat.

We started our drive back to Melbourne.  I must admit, my jet lag overtook me, and I dozed off to sleep.  I didn't mean to, I had the best of intentions for staying awake.  Franco dropped us off at the hotel.  Chris and I checked the Executive Lounge for a few snacks and then headed upstairs to our room-1001.  I unpacked my stuff, finding some wonderful "love" notes from my girls tucked in to my clothes.  Ahh, my girls.

Chris had been given an upgraded executive suite with a separate living room, a walk-in closet, a separate toilet area, asoaking tub, and a walk-in shower.  It was fabulous.  I was so tired and fell asleep around 9:30 pm.

Day 2 - Down Under

My flight sat at LAX for the next two hours as the airport had a back log of planes to take off due to the storm.  I fell asleep and woke just as the flight was about to take off, glancing at my watch to take note of the time.  It was well after midnight, and I was glad that I slept through the wait.

We were finally airborne and dinner service was pretty promptly started.  I wasn't really hungry and so very tired.  The attendants were busy passing out meals, but I was finally able to catch one's attention and asked for water.  I swallowed a Unisom and promptly fell asleep until 6:45 am.  After waking up, I checked the time left for the flight.  Eight hours.  Uggggh.  I got down to the business of watching movies and tv!  Pete's Dragon, Jack Reacher, BFG, The Light Between Oceans, and Fixer Upper.

I happened to glance one aisle over in the middle of the flight.  It was dark, most people were sleeping, and this crazy lady had white night cream spread all over her face.  Her mouth was wide open and she was snoring.  I had to stare at her for a few moments just to figure out what was going on with her face!  I debated about taking a picture.  Seriously, but good sense and decency overcame me.  I didn't take the picture.

Day 1 - Down Under

There's always a lot of sadness from Kristen when I leave.  She's not so happy with goodbyes.  Can't blame her though.  Having your mom leave for almost two weeks has got to seem endless.  Amy and Misha hugged on Kristen while I left.

My flight left from Denver to Los Angeles and then on to Melbourne on Friday evening.  The girls would be on their own for a day until Saturday evening when Julie and Patrick Ransom would arrive.  Patrick would stay until Wednesday.  Julie was an angel to agree to stay with the girls until Chris and I came home on the 28th.

As I was leaving just after 5 pm, Chris was face timing with the girls.  He was at the Thailand airport on his way to Melbourne, where we would meet up on Sunday morning.  My drive to the airport was fairly uneventful, though there was a bit of a slow down outside of Firestone.  I was hoping it wasn't an instant replay of trying to get Chris to the airport a week ago where we had to make some crazy detours because of traffic accidents.  The traffic eased up--a slow down due to a pull over on the other side of the freeway.  Gotta love all those people in front me who slowed to look.  

I parked on the West side of the airport in the Economy lot, tucking a key into a magnetic case to leave next to a tire so that Julie and Patrick could retrieve the car on Saturday.  I gathered up my luggage and headed for the terminal, entering through door 116.  I pushed the button for the 6th floor, but the elevator took it upon itself to stop at floors 3 and 4 and 5 and finally 6.

I tried to check in at the Premier United counter, but my itinerary was flagged.  Luckily, Ted, at the Global Services counter was kind enough to help me out.  Just a minor clarification was needed, and I was on my way.  I was just a little bit excited that both my flights were upgraded.  Being married to a Global Services guy had its benefits!

I took the train to B Concourse and made my way to gate 31.  I scanned my boarding pass and was on the jetway to board when one of the flight attendants walked along asking us all to turn around.  Our flight was delayed due to bad weather in Los Angeles.  "Are you serious?"  Apparently some of us thought he was playing a joke.  Boo.  We had a one hour delay.  I was hoping my connection to Melbourne was delayed as well because of the rain.  I hung out in the United lounge for a little while until we were able to start the boarding process again.  We left our gate at 8:15 pm, one hour late and then taxied just to wait in line even longer.

I sat in seat 2F next to a quiet seat mate.  The dinner service was started once we were on our way.  I'd have to say it was not appetizing at all, though the pretzel bun was tasty.  I was served cashew chicken, but in all honesty, it should have been more appropriately called not-a-single-cashew-in-sight chicken.  It was rubbery and yuck, and I just left it.

We descended into LAX through pouring rain.  It looked like a crazy snow storm out the airplane window.  My seat mate and I finally talked as his glasses went flying under the seat in front of us and he asked if could see them.  I had a little flashlight on my backpack and tried to shine the light under our seats.  He then realized that he could use the flashlight on his phone.  No luck though.  I finally reached ahead and tapped the guy in front of us on the shoulder and asked if a pair of glasses had flown under his seat.  The lady next to him had picked them up and kindly returned them to my seat mate.  Balance restored! 

I was missing my girls and kind of not excited about the long flight ahead, though thrilled that Chris would be waiting for me on the other side of the world.  The flight arrived in LAX late, rolling in to gate 70.  There were about 12 people needing to make the connection to the Melbourne flight at gate 74.  Ahhhh, 16 more hours!

The people on this flight kindly allowed all of the connecting flyers to get off (unlike the last international flight I was on).  We made our way down the concourse as we hurried to our gate, fortunately it wasn't too far.  I dropped my bag off at my seat--L2--and made a quick trip to the bathroom before settling in.  Food service was delayed once again, so I ate the chocolate that was left for me.  I chatted with Amy a bit as she was still awake.  I was sooooo tired.  I chatted with my new seat mate, Cathy.  She had been in the states working.  Unfortunately for her husband, Cathy was in first class and he was back in coach.  She might have felt a little bit bad about it as she ate her chocolate.

Misha's Latest Drawing

I love to walk in to Misha's room and see her latest drawings.  She has such a talent.  Someday when you are watching an animated Pixar movie or the like, you'll likely see Misha Kline in the credits.

This is her latest drawing.  It is of Asa Butterfield:

Valentine's Day

Kristen is an artsy crafty kind of girl.  She loves to buy these foam creations from Michaels.

She was also Chris' happy little helper in bringing Valentine gifts to us while he was in Asia.  Perfect for her as she loves to leave little notes and treats for others.

My Orchid

Since moving in to our home at Pelican Shores, I have had my orchid in the dining room.  I thought its flower cycle was normal as it would grow a few flowers and then lose them suddenly a couple of months later and then grow a few more a month or so later.  However, when I would walk in to a place like the grocery store that was selling orchids and see their orchids covered in flowers, I wondered what I was doing wrong.  I started reading about the proper care and feeding of orchids and learned that it would like more light than it was getting.  And it liked a humid environment.

I moved the orchid up to my bathroom and was thrilled when, already having two flowers, it started to grow new flower buds.  I can see new growth every day.  It makes me happy.

This is the decor I have created around my tub. It makes me happy too.

Kristen's Hair

Kristen has been doing "bungees" on her hair for years now as she washes her hair in the evening and wants waves in the morning (or maybe she is just trying out some new styles for Star Wars).  Her hair is pretty thick and much heavier and doesn't give quite the effect as when she was little, but it keeps it out of the way when she sleeps.

Amy used a diffuser on Kristen's hair on Sunday and achieved a nice wavy, curled look as well, so perhaps when she has the time, Kristen will learn how to diffuse her hair.

Sunday Beauties

Amy drove herself to church, so I wasn't able to get a picture of her before church, but I took pictures of these two lovelies.

Sunday Driver

Misha is getting more comfortable in her driving.  Yay!

Fun Shopping

Kristen, Misha, and I headed out for an afternoon of shopping on Saturday.  Amy had other plans and Chris was in Hong Kong!  We stopped first at the ARC Thrift Store in Lafayette.  It was one of the nicer organized thrift stores that I had visited.  We continued shopping after leaving the thrift store, but I think we had the most fun and success at ARC.  Misha even found a blazer for $3.  In fact, all pink, white, blue, and green tags were half off.  So our entire purchase of a puzzle, Pictureka, Misha's blazer, and a candle holder was $10.

Babysitting

Kristen got to babysit our future next-door neighbor's kids on Saturday.  I think she quickly realized that watching two kids was a challenge and a LOT of work. As the afternoon ended and the kids went home, Kristen remarked to Chris, "I'm not ready to be a parent."

Will She Be an Aggie?

Amy received an email acceptance from Utah State University a couple of months ago. The official letter came last month complete with an #ImAnAggie sign.  What you don't see is the dotted line showing her exactly where to put her hands on the sign!  Kids need to go to college to learn that!

Amy has not made a final decision yet on where she plans to go, but USU is a good option.  #SheCouldBeAnAggie